Rogue, Royal, Assassin
by The Slowest of Fruits
Summary: Assassinations have been sweeping the eastern kingdom, and the only royal left is the queen. A group sent to investigate will find everything might not be quite as it appears... *Several pairings, kingdom!AU, T for violence*
1. Prologue

**AN: This fic is being written by two people; xXCrimsonBlueXx and KoHachiProductions. (The Koyama half) The prologue and first chapter are written by Koyama, while from then on it goes like this; Even: Crimson, Odd: Koyama.**

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><p>It was an icy autumn night. The wind was still and the black sky was clear, stars sprinkled delicately across its dark canvas, not a single wisp of a cloud in their way. As beautiful as it may have been, the chill in the air was a biting one.<p>

A young woman stood stiffly, her numb fingers clutching at the edge of a stone balcony. Her breath fogged up in the air, and her knuckles were red from the cold. She closed her blue eyes and let out a long soft sigh.

"Yeka?" came a voice from behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"What's wrong?" she asked, watching the people below her as they made their way down the narrow streets and mingled with one another.

"You shouldn't be out here," the voice continued. "It's dangerous."

Yekaterina sighed and turned around, looking at her sister. "Everything happened on ground level, Natasha," She reasoned. "I can't be reached from here."

Natalia's restless eyes darted around, scanning the horizon. Suddenly, she seemed to have spotted something.

"Yeka, get back!" She said hurriedly, dashing forward to grab her sister's arm. She hastily pulling her back, trying toget inside as quickly as possible.

"Where? What do you see?" Yekaterina asked in desperation, looking around wildly for the threat her sister had seen.

"There's no time!" Natalia hissed.

_Bang._

There was a long silence.

"I'm not paranoid," Natalia said softly, in a weak effort to convince herself, her voice quivering. "I'm not. A threat is a threat is a threat."

By the next morning, news had spread everywhere—the queen's sister was dead.

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><p><strong>Now, Koyama and Crimson have a little bit of a war to see who can get the most reviews, so remember to write us questions, comments, and suggestions~<strong>


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's chapter one! This is also written by Koyama.**

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><p>Peter burst through the doorway, coming to a sudden halt as he caught his breath. When he had finished, he stood up straight, looking nervously at the throne in front of him. He was worried about the news he was going to deliver—there was no telling how the prince might take it.<p>

The man in question blinked in surprise when the young boy walked slowly toward him.

"What is it?" he asked, sitting up, alert.

"I have," Peter breathed, still winded, "news."

"Is it… urgent?" the prince continued, nervously twirling a lock of red hair with his fingers. He had a sinking feeling he knew what it was.

Peter bit his tongue, stumbling over his words. "There's been… there's been another assassination in the East."

The prince closed his eyes nervously, waiting. "Who is it?"

"The queen's sister," the boy said slowly. "Queen Natalia is the only royal remaining."

"_What?_" he asked in shock, his amber eyes widening. "That means… if it keeps going, she… is next?"

"I would assume so, Your Highness," Peter replied, bowing swiftly and dashing away. He needed to inform the rest of the palace—and fast.

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><p>"Someone's got to do something about this!" insisted the western queen.<p>

"You can't really expect to stop an assassin this skilled in such a short period of time, can you?" asked her husband. "It's a long journey there, too. There's no telling what might happen even if they do manage to arrive at the kingdom."

"Roderich," she replied, "we have to try."

Roderich let out a long sigh, glancing about.

"I'd be glad to help," said Gilbert, the albino man in command of the king's army—Roderich wasn't exactly of much use on the battlefield, and had appointed the Prussian to that position. "I'll assemble an assassin-hunting team. My brother, along with some of my best men. We can get there in no time and save the Queen's sorry ass from her would-be murderer."

"First thing, don't be _rude _to her. She deserves her power just like the rest of us," the king retorted. "She may not be your queen, but she _is_ a queen."

"She deserves it? It should have gone to her older brother! He's older. She intimidated her way into getting the throne."

"She didn't—"

"If it weren't for her, her brother would have been alive right now," Gilbert said.

"We should have stepped in before all this," the queen moaned.

"Elizaveta…" Roderich began, pausing to find his words. "We didn't know it would escalate to the crisis we're in now, did we?"

"When is it enough? One death? Two deaths? Five?"

There was a long pause, as the three looked around at one another.

"I can't change our past decisions to stay out of it. But _now_, we have to figure out what to do. Your proposal, Gilbert?"

The albino opened his mouth, about to continue, when Roderick held up a hand.

"Before you say any more, get your boots off my table."

Gilbert frowned and crossed one ankle over the other, just to show he wasn't going to budge. "What if my boots and 'your' table have been in a long and difficult romantic relationship ever since they first met, and are currently in the middle of a very tender, important moment in which they are working out all their problems in order to make things right between them, which would mean separating them will cause a serious scar in their relationship that might never heal?"

Roderich discovered that slapping one's own forehead could be rather painful.

"Well? You wouldn't want to ruin young, innocent love," Gilbert continued. In a flash of frustration, Elizaveta reached over and shoved the military commander's boots off the fragile wooden table, which most certainly did not have feelings, let alone were in a romantic relationship with a piece of wood that the aforementioned heavy, black boots ground and dirtied every time they came in contact.

"You may continue," said Roderich with a grudging sigh.

"I'll get a group together. Maybe five or six people. We can leave tomorrow morn—"

"As soon as you can," interrupted the queen. "Tonight, if possible."

Gilbert blinked. "_Tonight?_"

"That sounds reasonable," replied the king. "Earlier would be even better."

He looked back and forth between them. After no one spoke, he stood slowly and walked away, with a slight air of indignance. Just before he left, Gilbert turned around and said, "When I've got a team assembled, we'll wait here for you to see us off."

"I don't think I'll be here to meet them," Elizaveta said quietly when Gilbert was far out of earshot.

"Why is that?" asked Roderich, his voice a strange mixture of concern and surprise.

She shrugged. "Maybe I'm not feeling too well. I just need some rest."

Roderich stood. "I suppose I'll leave you to your business, then."

When the room was empty, the queen turned slowly to the closest mirror and began to tie her hair up.

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><p>The sky had darkened several hours previously. From a distance, what looked like a stray group of friends was clustered around the palace entrance.<p>

"Why did you have to bring your sister along?" asked Gilbert.

The girl drew her feet in and stood a bit closer to her brother.

"I'm not leaving without her, and she doesn't have a place to stay otherwise," her brother insisted.

"Vash, we're hunting an _assassin_," Gilbert reminded him.

"She can fend for herself perfectly well. And she's got me to protect her."

"But she—"

"What's wrong with having a girl in the group?" came a voice from behind Gilbert. He spun around, surprised to find someone he didn't remember ever having seen before.

It was a young man, who was very youthful in appearance, though he was just as tall as any of the others. He was dressed simply—not a peasant, but certainly not anyone of noble blood—and wore a large tan hat from under which messy brown locks of hair stuck out.

"Who are you?" asked Gilbert, squinting at the newcomer.

"Daniel, sir," the boy replied, sticking out a hand in an attempt to be friendly. "I wanted to join this group."

"How… did you find out about it?"

Daniel frowned. "I can't say I remember."

"Well, er… can you fight?"

He drew the sword at his side and swiftly raised it until the tip was an inch away from Gilbert's chest. The military commander's eyes were wide open, stunned.

"So that's a yes," he determined, pushing the blade away with one hand as Daniel grinned and slid the sword back into its sheath. "Well, I guess I should introduce you. This is my brother, Lud—"

"That can wait," Daniel interrupted. "Look."

The king was waiting for their attention silently. Gilbert blinked.

"This is my team," Gilbert said proudly. "You approve?"

Roderich glanced at the seven familiar faces, until his eyes settled on Daniel.

"Come closer," he said, motioning towards the boy.

Daniel did so, walking up to face the king, who squinted at him. He looked him straight in the eyes, not letting his gaze falter.

"How did you find out about this?"

"I heard it from somewhere. Overheard it, maybe."

"And you're really up for the job?"

"Yes."

"Well, then," Roderich said with a sigh and a tiny smile, "What is your name?"

"Daniel, Your Majesty," he replied.

"I wish you eight luck," the kind said, waving them off.

"How did you do that?" Gilbert asked in awe.

"Do what?"

"That—having a totally different conversation with your eyes while you spoke."

Daniel laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about. If I knew, would I tell you?"

Gilbert grumbled to himself, but said nothing more.

"Thank you," came a small voice from behind Daniel. It was Lili, the teenage girl he had managed to save from being kicked out of the group. He smiled gently winked at her.

"You're welcome."

"You look like—"

"I know," Daniel interrupted, knowing what the girl was going to say.

"Are you?" Lili asked, a smile playing across her lips.

"I am."

She grinned broadly now. Her brother looked at the two in confusion, but kept his mouth closed.

Daniel laughed.

His secret wasn't that obvious, was it?

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><p><strong>Aaaaand that's all for now! The next update is going to be in roughly a week, though I need to consult with Crimson to be sure of that.<strong>

**Be sure to go and read all our other awesome fanfics~**

**And be prepared for the first chapter of the crossover fic, which goes up tomorrow!**


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